According to reports, India has become the 71st country to ratify the United Nations International Convention on Road Transports. The Convention is expected to strengthen trade and regional integration by boosting international transport of goods. The report states that TIR will help India to integrate with Myanmar and Thailand as well as Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. The United Nations has said the TIR Convention will come into force in India in six months.

20-Jun-2017Others

Mangalyaan Completes 1000 Earth Days in Orbit

According to reports, Mangalyaan, Indian Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), completed 1000 Earth days in its orbit today. The ISRO mission launched on 5 November, 2013, was inserted into Martian orbit on 24 September, 2014, in its first attempt. MOM escaped a major calamity early this year when it faced long eclipse duration of 8 hours which meant the on-board battery, which is designed to handle an eclipse of only 100 minutes duration, would have got drained beyond the safe limit. However, the orbital manoeuvres performed on January 17 ensured the MOM spacecraft was safely taken to a new orbit.